Lesley has taught ESOL for many years, holds a master's degree in curriculum and instruction, and a doctorate degree in Instructional Leadership.

The purpose of this lesson is to define individualized instruction and provide some strategies for implementation. Topics include who can benefit from individualized instruction and how to set learning goals.

What Is Individualized Instruction?

Learners today are very diverse in their academic needs, backgrounds, and abilities. For this reason, it is imperative that we meet them where they are so that we can maximize their learning potential. One way to do this is to utilize individualized instruction.

Individualized instruction refers to the use of strategies, resources, and assessments to meet the needs of one particular learner. It ensures that a student is getting the proper guidance, flexibility, and learning support to expand opportunities for academic growth. A learner's profile gives an educator information that shows both a student's strengths and weaknesses. This information is usually based on different forms of data collection.

Who Should Receive It?

Within a learner's profile, you may find that a student has already qualified for special education services, which usually requires an individualized education program (IEP). Individualized instruction is very common for learners in this group, but varies from student to student.

A student with an IEP may benefit from individualized instruction.

It is important to note that individualized instruction is not only for special education students, but also for students who are more advanced and may need enrichment due to accelerated learning habits. Accelerated learners are usually students who are more academically advanced than their peers. For this reason, they may benefit from a more abbreviated lesson where instruction focuses on core elements of a subject. This allows them to move ahead in the curriculum and explore deeper connections to topics within a lesson.

How Do You Develop Goals?

One way to support individualized instruction is to use the learner's profile to set achievable goals. Learning goals are a way to guide your planning, assessment, and instruction. Consequently, goals should be reflective of a student's learning abilities and efforts so they are attainable. The learner should be included in goal setting, so there will be a sense of ownership in the process.

Another way to ensure that learning strategies are individualized is to include a student's parents when setting goals. This allows you to gain more insight into how to build a strong rapport and meaningful communication with a student. Parental input can also promote communication regarding desires for children's learning outcomes. A few tips to remember about individualized learning goals include:

What Strategies Can You Use?

To begin building a lesson using individualized instruction, first assess what a student already knows. This can be done using a pretest, such as a quick write or a quiz on the topic to be learned. The information obtained from the pretest should be strongly considered when determining lesson objectives. Additionally, encourage students to provide feedback throughout the lesson. This feedback can be in the form of a question, comment, or answer.

Utilize supportive materials throughout the lesson. The materials needed to master a topic should vary from student to student. For example, consider allowing students to use graphic organizers, calculators, or previously taken notes. This can help learners organize their information and meet goals more easily. Adjust the amount of time that is spent with each learner. As the student grasps key concepts and shows progress toward goals, he or she can move towards a level of independence.

Differentiated Instruction

While it is important to remember that individualized learning is useful for many types of students, it is equally as important to understand how it relates to differentiated instruction. Differentiated instruction (DI) refers to learning that is tailored to meet the needs of groups of students, rather than just one student. The differentiated grouping usually includes 3-5 students.

Differentiated instruction groups usually have a maximum of five students.

DI groups should be kept small so that students can receive instruction that targets a particular topic. With differentiated instruction, students can learn from their peers by being assigned various roles within their groups, which can be done independent of the teacher.

Lesson Summary

Individualized instruction focuses on one particular student's needs. This makes for a better opportunity for growth in weak areas. We can get a clear understanding of who needs individualized instruction based on information found in a learner's profile. Once we know where a student is academically, we can set learning goals to begin implementing individualized instruction.

It is important to remember that individualized instruction can be used with students who are at different levels, such as accelerated learners, not just special education students. It stands in contrast to differentiated instruction, which usually focuses on groups of students rather than an individual learner.

Summary:

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